So if I want to pursue my studies, will I be forced to apply as a sophomore wherever I end up applying for? Personally, I feel like I’ve lost many basics of my post-secondary education due to my health condition and the fact that I didn’t study for 4 years. I’d prefer to start as a freshman even in a community college if I have no other choice.
Thank you. Of course, take care of your health first and foremost.
As noted above by someone…many colleges are test optional. I think you need to find out if colleges you are considering will look at an SAT score taken 10 years after HS.
Thank you for clarifying your courses. It sounds like you will be a transfer student, not a first time freshman. But again…check the colleges. There are some colleges that do not count one semester or year of college courses as being a transfer student. How many courses did you take? Perhaps @MYOS1634 can explain what that means in terms of your college enrollment status here.
And as noted…in this country, you don’t necessarily take ONLY courses in your primary area of interest (math in your case). Our college curricula are far more diverse than that. @MYOS1634 already explained the types of courses you will need to take here.
Also, some of the courses you already took may not be comparable or even applicable now. The courses would need to at least sort of resemble required courses at your new college. Also, if they are too old, they might not be accepted towards a degree.
I very much like the suggestions given to you upstream…Target colleges where there are grad students, and also students living off campus. At the same time, you will want to look at clubs and the like at the colleges to see what activities are available to you.
Good luck!!
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You are required to provide all transcripts for ALL college level courses you have completed. You can’t just decide you want to apply as a freshman if you have taken enough courses to give you sophomore level status.
But understand this…just because you are technically a sophomore doesn’t mean you won’t need to take the freshmen level courses your first year in college here. So…you very much could be taking the same courses as an entering freshman…(even though you have the credits to be considered a sophomore by the school…or are viewed as a transfer because you previously took college courses)
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Great. Thank you for the clarification.
I have my preparatory classes transcripts but I only have my engineering school certificate of enrollment for the year I started but couldn’t complete. Should I send only these?
You apply as a freshman (“first time in college”) or transfer (“has attended college before”). You can’t decide on your own. In your case, you’d have to send your Relevé de Notes de Bac (probably also the Bulletins for 3e, 2e, 1e, Terminale with a scale explaining what results are achieved by top 1% nationally, top 5% nationally, top 10% nationally, top 20% nationally, etc.) You would not need to send the certificate of enrollment at the Engineering school and whether US universities would want the “bulletins” (assessment results) for prépa depends on what they tell you after you email them the message above.
After your admission, you have to take tests in several subjects, generally math, foreign languages, sometimes chemistry, to determine in which class you should be placed. If you take a test and score high enough, you can then take a second test and/or bring syllabi to be placed in the right course.
For instance most math placement tests cover the equivalent of what you studied in 4e, 3e, 2e, and perhaps 1e. (You should review before you take the test because youd definitely don’t want to be stuck in a review class). If you score high enough, you can take a test to determine whether you can start above that basic baseline and generally you have to present the syllabus (programme) for the classes you took in that subject.
I really don’t think you should go through the syllabus for the lycée again, you are going to pay so it better be for class content you either don’t know well or don’t know at all.
You can also get credit for some classes you took for the bac or as part of prépa so that you don’t have to retake them (for example, Physics or Philosophy). The credits go toward Distribution Requirements and allow you to take more classes in general education subjects of interest (you should NOT be taking just classes in math and CS, but make sure your transcript shows intellectual curiosity to a certain extent - however, transfering some credits would mean you have a bit more freedom in that respect.)
For instance, Penn State would grant you credits for all bac subjects where you got a 10 where the subject has a “coef.4” or higher. That frees up the same number of credits for you to take either in advanced math classes down the line as well as classes you find interesting
You do not want too many credits in your major though, but it’d be optimal for you to transfer with some gen ed credits+ some math credits and just catch up based on where you are.
(Again, I’m using PSU as an example because it’s easy for me but generally speaking the principle works at other universities even if they use other numbers and policies.)
Freshmen don’t all take the same classes: among STEM majors, some will be taking Calculus 1, many will be taking Calculus 2, some will be taking Multivariable calculus. Some, whose high school preparation was lacking, may even be placed in a remedial class such as precalculus with algebra review (equivalent to 2e/1e math class; Calc 1 + part of Linear Algebra+ part of Discrete Math are equivalent to Terminale, Calc 2 + rest of Linear Alg+ rest of Discrete Math = 1e année prépa PCSI or MPSI depending on college, then MVC and more advanced math would be equivalent to MP. So at the very minimum you should start in Calc 2 Honors and most likely in Calc 3 or above. Frankly based on your goal, you should be able to start in Calc 2 or, preferably, Calc 3.)
In addition to the message I wrote out above, you can add “I have now been out of high school for 10 years. Does it affect how I apply?”
it’s important you write each university because each of them will have their own policy.
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Yes, US universities typically have their own criteria for this distinction, which is typically based on college or university courses taken after leaving high school. They may not all have the same answer for you.
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Several people have mentioned McGill so I thought that I might say a bit about a few universities in Montreal.
There are two English language universities in Montreal: McGill and Concordia. Concordia is not as well known as McGill, but is also quite good. It is quite close to McGill and students can cross register. The University of Montreal is also quite good. For me it was a non-starter however (I grew up in Montreal) because U of Montreal teaches in French, and my French was never strong enough.
One plus of all of these schools is that they are in Montreal, which is an interesting place to spend three or four years. Another plus is that students enter all three schools, particularly the two English speaking ones, at a variety of ages. Students from Quebec have 11 years of school (elementary and high school), then spend two years at a CEGEP, and then enter university. Students from elsewhere in Canada and from the US have 12 years of school (elementary and middle and high school) and then enter university. As such these schools are used to some students entering with a different set of credits compared to some other students. At least at McGill most students after their first year live in apartments in Montreal, but quite close to the campus (which is right in the middle of the city). I also think that you will find some older students there.
If you do not feel ready to start at an academically very demanding university, one wild thought is to first take some courses at a CEGEP. A community college in the US would also be a possibility.
There are quite a few other universities in Canada which would be possibilities. There are hundreds of universities in the US that would be possibilities.
I have some family members who attended university in Canada and some who attended university in the US. It appears that students in Canada tend to take more classes in their major or closely related fields. In the US universities generally have a range of general education requirements. Quite a few of the required classes will not be in your major. One question therefore is to what extent you would rather get a broad education or focus more on areas that are closer to your intended major. Once you get to graduate school classes are all (or nearly all) focused on your major and related fields regardless of which country you are in.
I was a math major with a focus on applied math (including algorithms and probability and stochastic processes). After graduating I found in my career that it was quite helpful to have some computer science experience and knowledge.
I took some time off (and worked) between getting my bachelor’s degree and starting my master’s degree. I had a concern that sounds quite a bit like the concern that you have expressed of having forgotten quite a bit. Beginning my first quarter as a graduate student I was not sure how well I remembered my various undergrad classes. I for example signed up for linear algebra because I thought that I didn’t remember it very well. The first day the professor assigned chapter 1 for reading, so I went home and read chapter 1, and 2, and 3, and 4. The next class I asked him how far we were going to get through the book (chapter 8). I read half of what was left (chapters 5 and 6) that night, and the next day dropped the class (I had started with one extra class so dropping something was the plan all along). You might similarly discover that you remember more than you think once you start taking classes.
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